Conventional recoil pads generally fall into three categories.
Pre-fit recoil pads generally provide a rigid base coupled to an elastomer pad. The rigid base has a configuration which mates to a particular configuration of synthetic target stock. For each different configuration of synthetic target stock there can be a correspondingly differently configured rigid base.
Grindable recoil pads generally provide a rigid base coupled to an elastomer pad. The material from which the rigid base and from which the elastomer pad are formed can be joined, coupled to the target stock and reconfigured as an integral unit with the stock by removal of an amount of material sufficient to make flush the external surfaces of the stock and the recoil pad. Accordingly, a grindable recoil pad can be fitted to numerous and varied configurations of target stocks.
Slip-on recoil pads typically do not provide a rigid base to affix the recoil pad to the target stock. Rather, the rigid base is replaced by a sleeve which slidly overlays a sufficient portion of the external surface of the target stock to remain in fixed relation. The sleeve and the pad can be formed from an elastomer as a single piece within a mold and can be utilized with target stocks produced from both natural and synthetic materials.
With respect to each of the above-described categories of conventional recoil pads, the conventional elastomer pad may function to absorb recoil energy or delay the transfer of recoil energy from the stock to the shooter (also referred to as “recoil pad characteristics”), or both in a fixed relation depending upon the structure of the pad (both external structure and internal structure)(also referred to as “recoil pad structure”) and elastomer characteristics under service conditions such as hardness, flexure, compression, or the like (also referred to as “elastomer characteristics”). While there are a numerous and wide variety of conventional recoil pads in each of the above-described categories, there remain substantial unresolved problems.
One substantial problem with conventional recoil pads can be that the pad is a solid elastomer pad having a fixed homogeneous recoil pad structure and elastomer characteristics throughout the recoil pad. A solid elastomer recoil pad in the first instance can add unwanted weight to the recoil pad. Additionally, the only ways to adjust recoil pad characteristics of a solid recoil pad may be to adjust the external recoil pad structure or adjust the elastomer characteristics in production of the recoil pad.
Another substantial problem with conventional recoil pads can be that the number and structure of the air spaces internal to a particular recoil pad may be limited resulting in a corresponding limitation as to incremental variation within a graded series of recoil pads as to response in the absorption of recoil energy and response in delay transfer of recoil energy, or both in various permutations and combinations.
Another substantial problem with conventional recoil pads can be that the mold into which the elastomer may be molded to produce a conventional recoil pad may have an invariable mold structure that cannot be altered to provide a lesser or greater amount of air space as to particular regions or as to substantially the entirety of the internal recoil pad structure whether independent of or in relation to the external recoil pad structure or as to elastomer characteristics, or both, to correspondingly alter absorption of recoil energy or to delay transfer of recoil energy, or both in various permutations and combinations, from the target stock to the shooter. Therefore, the same configuration of recoil pad may be used between target stocks having similar structure for absorption of recoil energy and to delay transfer of recoil energy which between target stocks can have substantially different recoil energy characteristics. Alternately, a plurality of different molds can be made for each of a corresponding number of different recoil pads to address the different characteristics of recoil energy from different target stocks.